Star Trek: History of the Future
by jedi793
Summary: The Enterprise-E travels back in time to save the future by destroying the past
1. Chapter 1

****I know most of you reading this might not care how this relates to the timeline of Star Trek but I figured I'd try to clear it up in case anyone is curious as to how all this ties into the Trek universe. First off, I have to say I do NOT own Star Trek, any names or resemblance of names or descriptons of characters is purly fictional, etc. you all get the point. Anyway, this takes place after the events of Star Trek: Nemesis and after the events of the four comic series Star Trek: Countdown, which led up to the events of the Star Trek (2009) movie. **

**Character wise-The re-introduction of many Star Trek: TNG characters goes off the assumption that Starfleet is nearing a time of crisis and is dire need of officers which is why we see the return of Wesley Crusher, William Riker, Worf, Geordi LaForge, and the return of the android B-4 as Data (even though he was captain of the Enterprise-E during "Countdown", the idea is that he surrendered his command of the Enterprise to become part of the crew to help the ship run more efficiently). However, with the use of the character Jim Bullock, this turns into an alternate universe story although it does follow the events of the accepted Star Trek timeline. Anyway, now that my pointless rambling is done let's get to the story. Enjoy!****

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><p><span>CHAPTER 1<span>

The city was barren; stores were empty; cars left abandoned on the street; there was no sign of any life here at all. The only sound was that of the footsteps of Captain Jim Bullock. on the concrete sidewalk. The sun was just starting to set, casting shadows of the buildings on the ground before him. Jim slowly walked forward, ready for anything. The eerie silence made him feel uneasy. Not more then 5 hours ago there were thousands of people here, all on their way to different locations, all with different thoughts running through their minds. Every last one of them not knowing the impending doom coming to face them. And here he is, walking the very streets that were evacuated just a short time ago, looking for the thing that drove these people away. Looking for what could possibly be the driving force behind the extinction of human life and the extinction of all life in the universe. And it decided to start here, on Earth, exact location: New York City.

Continuing on Jim sees no evidence of Their presence here, or of anything for that matter. Looking around he begins to conclude that They were here, but one of two things happened: either They came across the same thing he's seeing now, or They caused the disappearance of almost 9 million people. Given the current situation there's nothing more I can do. And then he sees one thing that changes the view on everything. One thing that confirms Jim's fear but also gives him the drive to continue on the search. Jim walks over to the object and crouches down to examine it further. Just by looking at it he knows They were here, and They know humanity is hidden here which leads to the only conclusion that more of Them are coming. Jim taps his chest communicator, "Bullock to Enterprise", he says after the chime of the communicator confirms a communications connection.

"Enterprise here, go ahead captain", replies the first officer, Commander William Riker, who re-entered Starfleet when the need arose for additional officers.

"It appears our fears have been confirmed, Commander. They were and possibly are still here. We have to be ready for additional reinforcements. Beam me back up and go to immediate Red Alert."

"Aye sir, Riker out. Mr. Worf, you heard him."

"Yes sir" replied the Klingon tactical officer, "energizing and going to Red Alert".

The view of the bridge of the Enterprise was a much more welcome sight to Jim compared to that of the empty streets of 21st century New York. "Report Mr. Worf".

"Phasers and torpedoes are armed, shields are still inoperative. Impulse engines are operating at full capacity however warp drive remains inactive. Sensors are back to full power as well."

"Understood. Engineering," the chief engineer Lieutenant Commander Geordi LaForge replies through the ships internal communication system. "Yes captain."

"Make shields your first priority, we'll need to defend ourselves more then be ready to run, besides, we know we can't escape Their ships."

"Aye sir, we'll get to work right away."

"Thank you Geordi, Bullock out. Mr. Crusher, maintain orbit. Mr. Data, keep scanning the area, I rather not be caught off guard." The android nodded at the order, "Aye sir".

Jim turns back to Riker who's sitting at the first officer station behind Jim, "Number One, notify the crew to be read for a full status update from me in exactly one hour. And tell them to be on full alert of anything out of the ordinary and to log it immediately. I'll be in my ready room."

Jim walked off to the left side of the bridge to the captain's ready room, trying to think of how he would stop Them from taking control of Earth and alter the timeline even further then it already has. Jim can't begin to imagine the repercussions being caused by the Enterprise's presence here. And the presence of Them. He walks over to the main window and gazes out at the familiar sight of Earth below him. Only, he can't help but feel like he's not home at all. Hearing about the immanent attack on his Earth, the 24th century Earth, left Jim concerned for the people he knew on the planet but also happy with the fact that he could return home after being away for almost three years on patrol and defense missions. The peace talks with the Romulans have all but stopped due to the destruction of the planet Romulus and the disappearance of Ambassador Spock. Ambassador Picard can't hold the talks together and now the Klingons see the weakness in the Romulan defenses and are itching to fight.

_A galactic war is the last thing the Federation needs right now_, Jim thinks to himself, _the Federation has enough problems with the political turmoil sweeping across Starfleet Command._ _If only the citizens of the Federation knew what was going on behind the scenes. _The door to the ready room slid open and shut. "The crew is awaiting your orders now, captain", says Commander Riker. Jim looks up, baffled that an hour passed that quickly. "Thank you, Will. I'll be out in a moment," replied Jim. However Riker didn't move. "Something else I can help you with, commander?"

"Permission to speak freely sir?" asks Riker.

"Granted"

"Sir, I don't think we can possibly stand to fight what's waiting for us. The Enterprise is crippled, we should try to go back to our own timeline and fix what we can there. Staying here won't help at all; you saw what Earth looked like. I understand we came here to prevent alterations to the timeline but I think it's too late for that."

Jim looked at Riker and sighed in almost-resignation.

"Will, I want to agree with you, but I can't. We have a job to do to Starfleet and to our families back home. Wouldn't you be devastated if we went back but Deanna and your son were gone? Wiped from existence because we couldn't fulfill that duty? I know I'm using an unfair advantage with you but I need you on my side Will, now more then ever. Not as a first officer but as a friend. Starfleet doesn't exist out here so we need to stick together; me, you, even Ensign Roake. We need to stick together to survive. Now, lets get the crew in the loop of things shall we?"

Jim walked over to Riker, patted him on the shoulder, and walked out of the ready room, followed by Riker. Both went to their respective seats on the bridge and waited a moment. Then Jim rose and nodded to Worf who opened the ship-wide communications network. Jim sighed and began to speak.

"Attention, this is Captain Bullock to all crew. As you all are aware, after our most recent battle we have found ourselves launched back into the 21st century with no apparent way to return home. Some of you may be familiar with the incident that occurred with the USS Voyager being taken into the Delta Quadrant with no way home, we find ourselves in a similar situation which calls for us, all of us to be more unified with each other then ever before. However, for the time being I need each and every one of you working you're hardest on repairs to shields and eventually warp drive. It is imperative we all work together, and closer then ever to get the job done efficiently, for we find ourselves up against our greatest adversary. Ladies and gentlemen of the starship Enterprise, lets get to work."

Jim nodded again at Worf to close the communication channel. He then turned to face the viewscreen. "Lieutenant Crusher, set course for Saturn. Maximum impulse. Hopefully we can use the rings to hide our presence here." The Enterprise turned and left Earth behind yet again, this time under a completely different set of circumstances.


	2. Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

There was a constant hum of noise within the evacuation center as more and more people were being brought in. There were about 200,000 people in this bunker alone, all talking to each other about how they got here, if there was any trouble on the way here, and what they were doing at the time of the evacuation. No one seemed to quite understand why they were ordered to leave their homes and proceed to the nearest security bunker. There were no impending storms, no known natural disasters occurring or about to occur, so why all the commotion over what seemed to be nothing? No one could quite understand and they wanted answers fast.

They got the answer quick enough when there was pounding and scraping on the outer door of the bunker, which had been sealed by the military forces helping the evacuation process. Panic spread throughout the citizens. What was breaking through? Why would someone try to bypass the guards at the door? Would this unknown force break through? All these questions were running through the minds of the people, looking desperately to the soldiers inside the bunker for answers. That's when the noises stopped and the faint sound of footsteps could be heard moving away from the door. The feeling of panic subsided to a point but paranoia still plagued the evacuees. One of the calmer people was a young woman by the name of Camilla Hawke.

Camilla had been at home when the evacuation started. She spent a lot of time at home since it was difficult to keep a job given the current economic crisis facing the nation. Her thoughts wandered to the other parts of the country and she was curious if other parts of the nation or even the world were facing the same issue as they were in New York. Last she heard was most of the northeast United States and parts of Canada had been evacuated to bunkers like this or the people fled to other states. Dismissing the thoughts from her head she looked back out the small window where her bed was set-up.

The night sky seemed so lit up by the stars. This was a rare sight since the city lights usually prevented any sight of the celestial wonders. Camilla looked for as many constellations as she could spot, something she used to do when she was a child, about 20 years in her past. She saw Orion's belt, which led to the sighting of the rest of the Orion constellation, the Big and Little Dippers and then a different looking star. She focused in on this one as close as possible. She thought the light was playing tricks on her eyes for a moment but then she saw the star was moving, actually moving in what looked like an orbit. It looked so out of place too since it gave off more of a green hue then anything else, fairly easy to spot amongst a sea of white stars.

Then there were several bursts of light that emanated from the "star", all which seemed like they were heading down to the city. She knew something wasn't right. The falling dots of light finally came in contact with the buildings and her fear was confirmed. The buildings all gave off a reddish-yellow light in the eruptions of fire. Smaller buildings collapsed quickly while some of the taller ones stayed up for a longer time but not much longer. By now just about everyone in the bunker had found a window and was watching the horror unfold before them. They all watched on as the place they called home for so many years burned before them and there was nothing anyone could do about it. Camilla sat on her bed in complete shock. She didn't think this ordeal was as serious as everyone was making it and now she realizes its worse then everyone made it out to be.

_Who could be responsible for this attack? Is it more terrorist attacks?_ _The technology seemed too advanced to be anything like that, _Camilla thought to herself. She looked back at the burning city and saw the odd star was gone. She could do nothing now but just lie down and try to get to sleep.

The Enterprise remained in orbit of Saturn, close to the rings so the energy signatures could be masked in case anything showed up. The unfortunate thing was that the sensors of the Enterprise were also impaired. "Sir," called Worf from the tactical station, "Engineering states they're ready to test the shields." Jim sighed in relief.

"Finally some good news," he said getting up from his chair. "Mr. Crusher, take us up and out."

"Aye sir" replied the navigator. He keyed commands on the console and the ship began a steady ascent out of the rings and cleared them fully in a few seconds. Crusher turned back to Bullock, "We're clear of the rings sir," he reported.

"Good. Mr. Worf, shields up." Jim sat back down and awaited the report from his tactical officer. After a few seconds Worf looked up from his console, "Shields are up and operating at 87% efficiency."

"It's progress. Bullock to Engineering," called out the captain. LaForge replied. "Engineering here, captain."

"Geordi, great work on getting the shields back up. Lets try to get to 93% efficiency and then begin work on the warp drive."

"Aye sir, LaForge out."

Jim was happy to hear the ship was on its way to full power and operation. It didn't last long though due to Data's next report.

"Captain, long range sensors picking up an unknown vessel in orbit of Earth. I can't get a clear fix on it though since there's still some minor interference." Jim didn't like the sound of "an unknown vessel in orbit of Earth".

"Understood, Mr. Crusher, set course, best possible speed."

"Aye, sir". The Enterprise came about and began on its way towards Earth, while the crew hoped they wouldn't be facing what they feared most.


	3. Chapter 3

CHAPTER 3

The Enterprise arrived at Earth but found nothing in orbit nor was there anything near the planet that coincided with Data's report.

"Mr. Data, are you getting anything from the area?" asked Jim, staring out the viewscreen inhopes they could find what was here.

"Negative sir, there are no engine signatures in the area nor are there any ships on sensors. However, I am picking up concentrations of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide. Chemical compounds produced as a result of combustion."

Jim looked over to Data as he spoke and back at the viewscreen. "Is it possible they started to work again and are using their cars and factories?" asked Jim.

"Unlikely sir," replied Data, "these traces are somewhat natural but were brought about in an artificial manner. Further scans indicate there is heavy damage to structures all around the planet and to many areas of open land. Best assumption sir is a heavy bombardment from an orbital force, possibly that of the vessel we picked up earlier."Jim thought for a moment.

"Commander Riker, I think its time we got a closer look at what's going on down there with the people. Assemble an away team and meet me in transporter room three in one hour." Jim rose and headed for the turbolift. "And Will," added the captain, "be sure to dress appropriately for 21st century standards. We'll need to blend in." With that, Jim entered the turbolift and headed toward his quarters to prepare for the mission.

Camilla awoke to the hustle and bustle of the day before that was going in in the bunker. Except this time there were a lot more soldiers and now there were twice as many medical teams present as there were before. She heard a bus pull up in front of the bunker and she heard a few soldiers talking about it, saying this was the last one and all the survivors they could find from the attack were here. She wanted to see if any were injured or looked like they could provide answers but it didn't seem like they could. It was a small group of about fifteen people as compared to the scores of people that were constantly flowing in since the previous afternoon. Among the fifteen was a small group of six who all clustered together after getting off the bus. Usually people walked right into the bunker and then found who they needed to, but it was a minor difference. They were dressed rather oddly too, at least for the situation at hand. Very business-like and formal, almost as if they worked in a business office and couldn't pull themselves away from the last meeting even with an evacuation order.

There was an upper-middle aged looking man with a full beard, some slight grey here and there in his hair; a very pale looking man that looked like he had yellow eyes but she dismissed the thought. The third person in their party was the most casually dressed but still formal and it appeared like he was the leader of the group since the others were listening intently to what he had to say. There also seemed to be about two or three other younger looking people in the group also listening but they almost seemed more focused on their surroundings, like they were looking for something. The one that was talking looked up and caught Camilla looking at him and the group. She quickly turned away and went back to where her bed was and looked back out the window of the bunker. The aftermath of the attack on the city was apparent with all the smoke still rising. The buildings that once touched the sky now lay in rubble on the streets. Everything that was left behind was all but gone. Strangely enough though the fires seemed to start dying down once the star she saw sat on her bed still looking out the window.

"Unbelievable isn't it," came a voice from behind her. She jumped, not expecting the sudden break of her thoughts.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you," said the man she saw before.

"My name's Jim, Jim Bullock. This is William Riker," said Jim gesturing to Will, "and this is-" he paused looking at Data, realizing he couldn't introduce him as an android.

"David," said Data suddenly, "David Jones." Jim was awestruck at how quickly he invented a name for himself. Camilla nodded to each of them, "I'm Camilla, Camilla Hawke. What happened to the other people you had with you before?" she asked.

Jim had to come up with a cover story, "They went to find some friends of ours that made it here before we did. We just want to make sure they made it here ok. Did you come here with anyone? Family, friends?" Jim asked Camilla.

"No," she replied, "I haven't had any real family since I was a teenager. I don't really remember them much to be honest. I don't remember much about my childhood at all." She gazed back out the window and stared off into the overcast sky. Jim put his hand on Camilla's shoulder.

"I'm sorry to hear that. I can empathize though. I didn't have much of a childhood either. My parents were both killed in an accident and most of my family lived really far away. I had to be my own man by the ago of 11. I did it though. Not quite sure how."

Camilla laughed slightly at his last comment. One of the other women who arrived with Jim came over and whispered something in his ear. "Excuse us for a moment." He gestured at Riker and Data to follow him.

"What's the news lieutenant?" The Enterprise security officer approached the group along with two other officers.

"Not many people are aware of what's going on. They were living their day-to-day lives when they were told to evacuate and they came here. The soldiers around here won't answer our questions either, I think it's about time we ship out and check out the city for ourselves."

Jim contemplated the suggestion, but since he, Riker and Data all made their presence known to Camilla, it'd look odd of they disappeared and then came back.

"Alright, you and Ensign Forge have permission to beam back up to the ship, assemble a security team and a science team an investigate the area. Data, Riker, Ensign Hydel and myself will stay down here with everyone."

"Understood," replied the security officer. She and Ensign Forge left the area to find a safe spot to beam back up to the Enterprise. Meanwhile, the group returned to Camilla's bed. She was looking out over the scores of people gathered up in the security bunker. She still found it incredible that this many people were moved in such a short amount of time. And just when they needed to be moved too it seemed like since there was nothing left of the city. She saw Jim walking back with his friends.

"Camilla, I have a question for you," said Jim, sitting on the bed next to hers, "do you know anything about the attack that happened last night or why you were all brought here? Has anyone given you any insight at all?"

Camilla thought of everything that happened the past few days. She wanted to say yes so she could help him but there was nothing.

"Sorry Jim, I don't know anything except the fact that all these guys here," she gestured toward some of the guards, "know something that we don't and they don't plan on telling us." Jim nodded in agreement, "You're right about them hiding something. You can tell some of them are scared of what's out there."

Jim paused and sighed. He took a long look at Camilla.

"Camilla, you have to understand that the world you see today won't be the same for very long. Changes are coming and fast. I can't say very much else then that but change is coming. Enough about all this though, I want to hear what someone else thinks about the world and current events, can I hear what you have to say?"

Camilla looked at Jim quizzically with the sudden change in tone but shrugged it off and began talking about 21st century events, not knowing she was filling in the gaps that were present amongst the history of the future.


	4. Chapter 4

CHAPTER 4

Lieutenant Noble, Ensign Forge, and a team of security officers and science crew waited for nightfall to beam down to the location of what was once New York City. They looked around at the destruction that surrounded them. Buildings were nothing more then rubble, small fires still burned in the area, cars were overturned or completely decimated by the bombardment. Noble gave signals to the security teams to spread out and scout the area. The science and engineering teams conducted their scans to see if they could determine what kind of weapons were used or if there was any kind of ground combat before the bombardment. Their tricorders weren't giving them any readings as of yet. Forge and another security officer cautiously made their way up one of the streets, phasers drawn. They both kept a sharp eye out for anything significant, nothing lighting the way except the fires around them. Then, off in the distance they heard a scream for help. Forge and the officer looked at each other and ran in the direction of the screams. As they were about to reach the location the screaming stopped. The two officers kept looking for signs of a life form that may have made the sound. They saw nothing. The officer heard something behind him and turned, again, nothing. He turned back to Forge only to see that he was gone. "Ensign Forge?" he called out. "Sir, where did you go?" The officer looked around the area for Forge but couldn't find any sign of him. Turning a corner and looking down the street he say the red coloring of a Starfleet uniform. "There you are, ensign. I thought I lost you." He walked towards Forge who didn't move. The officer reached out and grabbed Forge's shoulder to turn him around, a move he regretted the second he saw Forge's face.

Lieutenant Noble and her team scouted the area, finding nothing. The fires around them kept the area lit enough for the security team to look around and for the science teams to examine the rubble. Behind her, Noble heard one of the tricorders start beeping. She walked over to the science officer. "You found something ensign?" she said to the officer. "Yes ma'am, after running about fifteen different scans I finally started to pick up traces of-" a scream in the distance caused the officer to stop short. Noble looked up and over at the security team. They all, including the science crew, ran in the direction of the screams. Before they could get close though the sound died out. They moved in the direction but more cautiously this time. "Anyone have anything on scans?" Noble asked the science crew. They all came back negative. A few seconds later another call for help echoed off what remained of the buildings. They once again moved towards the noise and found where it came from but didn't see what caused it. They searched the area but saw nothing. Noble almost told her team to stop the search when she looked down and noticed something below her. She bent down and picked up a piece of a Starfleet communicator. She examined it for a moment but couldn't for very long. The ground beneath them started to shake and split apart in some sections, parts of buildings that were still standing started to collapse. A collapsing wall crushed one of the science officers while one of the security officers got tripped up by the shifting ground and fell into one of the splits that opened. Noble tapped her communicator while running to the closest open are they could find. The communicator wasn't responding. She tapped it repeatedly but no channel was opening up to the Enterprise. The earthquake stopped and she looked around at the damage. More buildings had fallen and now parts of the ground had straight drops that went down for miles. Looking back at her team she saw two security officers remained and four science officers stood there, shaken up by the experience. She started to approach them but a noise behind her stopped her. Slowly turning around she saw one of the security team get tossed aside with great ease into a destroyed car. Before she could react she felt something grab her from behind and then she started to lose all thought, she started to go unconscious. The last thing she felt was her heart slowing down to almost a stop and then a single tear ran down her cheek before she lost all consciousness.

Jim, Riker, Data and Camilla all sat around for hours, talking about the events of the past 100 years on Earth. The talking became amusing between them all, except Data but he had excused himself to go find Ensign Hydel a few hours before. After Data didn't return Riker went to find him and it was down to Jim and Camilla. "So," she started to say to Jim, "you've probed me for just about every bit of information I remember from my crappy history classes in school, I'm curious about you. How you managed to live on your own at the age of eleven, what you did without any family, what job did you have before the world basically shut down?" Jim became very nervous. He had prepared himself for just about everything except for those questions. "Um…well, you see I uh…its kind of a long, boring story." Jim replied, trying to see if she'd believe him. "We have plenty of time it seems. I don't mind long stories." She smiled at him. He kept trying to think of a way to get out of this when suddenly the communicator, usually on his chest but now in his pocket, started beeping. "I'm sorry, excuse me for just a moment." He said to Camilla who rolled her eyes and gestured as if to shoo him away. Jim got up and leaned up against a column, taking the device out of his pocket. He pressed it to respond to the incoming communication. "Enterprise to Captain Bullock, do you read me? I say again, Captain Bullock, do you read me?" came Worf's voice over the communicator. "Bullock here, go ahead, Mr. Worf," replied Jim. "Captain, the security and science teams that beamed down have failed to check in and are not responding to our hails. We think someone may be jamming our signal." "I doubt that, you'd be able to pick that up on sensors. If they aren't responding then there are only two options, they are unable to respond because of capture or death. Or, option two, they refuse to respond but even then, I doubt it's the latter." "Agreed, captain. What action should we take?" "Right now, none, let me talk with Riker and Data first and we'll figure something out. I'll contact you in thirty minutes from now no matter what. If you don't hear from one of us, something happened." "Understood, Enterprise out." Jim put the communicator back in his pocket. He came out from behind the column and bumped right into Camilla who was standing right on the other side. "Oh, Jim, I um, I was just getting some-" Jim raised his hand up to get her to stop speaking. "I know what you were doing. I've been very secretive about everything and you were curious to find out all you could so you followed me to listen in on the conversation and find out what is going on, correct?" Jim stated matter-of-factly. Camilla was at a loss for words for a moment before she finally said, "Damn, you're good." Jim smiled, "I try. Anyway, we need to find Riker and Dat-David. We need to find Riker and David." This time Camilla smiled, "You mean David, the guy who doesn't laugh at a joke, who cannot say a contraction, who has yellow eyes and pale skin? C'mon, Jim. I may not understand everything that's going on but I know his name sure as hell ain't David and he sure as hell isn't fully human." "Actually," Data said from behind Camilla, causing her to jump in fright, "you would be most correct in that statement." Jim gave Data the cut sign from behind Camilla's back. Data stopped speaking and Riker stepped forward towards Jim. "Worf told me everything, what's our next move?" Jim smiled. "Oh no," said Riker, "that's your, 'we're about to do something stupid and dangerous' smile." "You're damned right it is Will. Our next move is obvious, we pick up where they left off." Jim walked off to the back of the bunker hurriedly. "C'mon guys, lets go," he said to Riker, Data and Hydel, "and you too Camilla." Looking shocked Camilla walked in the direction of the men, trying to figure out exactly who this Jim character is. Suddenly though, she got a severe wave of pain in her head, worse then any headache she ever had. As the pain hit she heard hundreds of whispers all running in her mind at once, completely incoherent since there were what sounded like thousands of people talking at once. The pain went away as quickly as it came and she was leaning against a wall when she could see again. Jim was in front of her looking at her. "Are you ok, you look like you're about to be sick?" asked Jim. "I'm fine," replied Camilla, "lets get going." The group walked off in search of an exit; their only route being the supply delivery section in the back of the bunker.


	5. Chapter 5

CHAPTER 5

Jim, Camilla, Riker and Data all made their way to the cargo delivery area near the rear of the bunker. There weren't many guards around since they were all closer to the front of the front gate and patrolling the perimeter of the compound. Data approached the first guard from behind and grabbed the base of his neck near the shoulder and the guard fainted. Camilla watched in disbelief at what just happened. Jim saw her face and just smiled while shaking his head, "I'll explain later," he whispered back to her before signaling to Riker and Data to follow him. As they approached the gate that led out of the compound they came across four more guards with no easy or quiet way to take them all out. They took cover behind some crates and Jim started thinking. "Ok, what if we set a phaser to wide beam on stun, do you think that'll work, Data?" The android looked blankly at the floor and tilted his head to the side slightly, running through the scenario. "I believe so, sir however, the sound of the phaser firing may draw attention to our escape, in which case we will only have approximately 14.7 seconds until additional guards arrive." Jim nodded, "Understood, but we'll be out of here in 8." Jim moved out from behind the crates and approached the soldiers very slowly. Looking around he saw an empty aluminum can, picked it up and threw it near one of the guards. The clanking of the can startled the guards and they all moved in the direction of the sound, which was away from Jim's location, exactly how he planned it. Once they were all close enough Jim stood up after adjusting the settings in his small hand-phaser and fired at the guards. The beam shot across the room in multiple directions with a resounding hiss and hit all four guards at once, resulting in them all collapsing from being stunned. Data, Riker and Camilla quickly rushed over to the drawdown gate and found the controls to open it. Data keyed in the command and the gate started to rise open. Once it was high enough for the group to duck under they slipped away and out onto the compound. Near-by was a military jeep that had just been parked by one of the soldiers. They quickly ran to the jeep and climbed in. The keys were still in the ignition and there was no one in sight yet. Jim slammed on the gas and drove off into the direction of the city, with no kind of pursuit in sight. "See, Data. I told you. 8 seconds." Jim said as he smiled at how smoothly the escape went. "Actually sir, it took 8.649 seconds." Data replied. Riker and Camilla both laughed. Jim rolled his eyes and looked at Data in the rearview mirror, "Thank you, Data. Thanks you very much." Jim said sarcastically while grumbling something under his breath. The jeep sped off into the direction of New York City where, hopefully, some questions would be answered.

Worf paced on the bridge of the Enterprise, waiting to hear from the captain, Riker or Data. Ensign Hydel had already beamed back aboard, but he was worried most about the main bridge officers down on the planet. The 30-minute mark was almost up. "Bullock to Enterprise, do you read me Enterprise?" came the captain's voice over the bridge speakers. A sigh of relief came from the entire bridge it seemed like. "Worf here, captain. Go ahead", replied the Klingon. "We've left the security bunker and are on our way to the city to check out what's going on. Will has decided to beam back up to the ship once we reach our destination. Once we do, I want you and a security detail to beam down. And be sure to bring me a type 3 phaser rifle and my uniform." "Aye, sir. Worf out." The channel was closed and the jeep was getting closer to the city. "Jim, you're sure you want me back on the ship?" asked Riker, hesitant about the captain of a starship being on an away mission. "Yes, Will. I am sure. The Enterprise needs a commanding officer aboard and I need Worf and Data down here. I'll be fine don't worry. And don't try to convince me otherwise, Picard told me the stories." Riker sighed and sat back. The jeep crossed one of the many bridges that lead into the city, which one though Camilla wasn't sure of since there were no landmarks left to determine anything. "Oh my God," she said very quietly in the passenger seat, "it looked bad from the bunker but I didn't think it was this bad." She looked at the burnt remains of the tallest buildings in the world. Everything was decimated. The highest building left stood probably 20 feet, if that. Camilla was in shock at the sight of her hometown being basically wiped out. She can't imagine what the death toll would have been if the city were never evacuated. They drove around piles of rubble and around splits in the ground. Finally they arrived at what was once Central Park. Jim stopped the jeep and they all got out. After giving the area a quick sweep they found the most open area. Riker pulled out his communicator and tapped the center. "Riker to Enterprise. One to beam up." Riker looked at Jim, "Good luck, captain. Oh and Camilla, take this." Riker tossed his hand phaser to her. "Jim will show you how to use it. Energize." In a few seconds a blue light shone around Riker and he dematerialized right before their eyes, Camilla once again looked on in awe. A few minutes later Worf, his security team and the supplies they needed were beamed down. He approached Jim to hand over the items he asked for. "Thank you, Worf." Jim said. Camilla looked up and jumped back in surprise at the sight of Worf. "I am a Klingon," he said in his gruff voice and he walked off to make sure the supplies were organized and distributed. Jim had excused himself to change quickly and came back wearing his Starfleet uniform. "It feels so good to be back in uniform." Jim said, brushing some dust off the sleeves and chest of the uniform. He walked over to where Worf and some security officers were standing looking at a three dimensional map of the area. "We received these scans from the tricorders before the last team that beamed down disappeared. It seems there is a system of tunnels and caverns beneath the city, below the subway tunnels. However, there also seems to be force fields surrounding the tunnels, which prevents direct transport and it also resists further scans as to determine the creators of the tunnels. You should also know that since we'll be so far underground, communication will be limited. We'll be able to contact each other but not the Enterprise." Data, who also changed into uniform, returned with three security officers after doing patrols of the area. "Captain, it appears that the splits we encountered earlier are direct links to the tunnel system. I believe we can attempt to rappel down." "Good suggestion, Data. Everyone, suit up, we're going in." Jim started to walk away when Camilla grabbed his arm and turned him to face her. "What do I do? Stay up here?" she asked. "I said everyone didn't I?" Jim replied smiling as he continued towards the rappel gear.

After a few moments everyone was suited up and ready to explore the tunnels. Jim, Camilla and one security team were in position at one split and Data, Worf and the other team were positioned a few miles away at the other. Jim tapped his communicator, "Data, Worf, do you read me?" Jim waited to hear the reply. "Loud and clear, captain," replied Data. "Excellent, keep this channel open so we can monitor progress." "Aye sir." Jim was the first to start down followed by Camilla and then the security team. "This is Alpha team, we've touched down and are making our way to cavern one," said Jim over the channel. "Bravo team," replied Data, "touched down and proceeding to cavern two." The two teams proceeded slowly, using tricorders to scan and try to map the area. "This is Bravo team, cavern two is empty, moving on to cavern four," came the android's voice over the communicator, "sir, I am also picking up very faint life signs coming from down one of the halls. Permission to investigate." "Granted, just be careful. We don't want to split up the teams too much," replied Jim. Data, Worf, and five security officers stayed on the path to cavern four. The other five officers proceeded towards the life sign readings. Jim, Camilla and their ten officers stayed on track for cavern one. "Alpha team, cavern one is empty, proceeding to cavern three," said Jim. "This is Bravo team two, sir. We're getting closer to the life signs captain. I can see some lights at the end of the tunnel. It seems like-" static cut off the rest of the transmission. "Bravo team one, are you getting a signal from Bravo two?" asked Jim. "Negative, captain. Their communication signal and life signs are not on scans. It is possible the force fields are interfering," replied Data. "Understood, keep an eye out though, I don't want to leave anyone behind." The teams continued down the tunnels. Camilla got caught on a rock and got tripped up slightly. Bracing herself on the wall she steadied herself, but only briefly. She felt another shooting headache and heard the whispers again, louder this time but still incoherent. Just like the last time, the pain went away just as quickly. Jim held her steady, waiting for the pain to pass. Camilla looked up and looked around, trying to remember where she was. "What happened?" asked Jim. "I don't know," she replied, "I was about to fall, braced myself against the wall and then the headache hit. And I heard thousands of whispers all at once. I couldn't tell what they were saying though." Jim pondered this for a moment, but could come up with nothing. "That's strange, I've never heard of that happening. Are you ok to walk?" "Yeah, I should be fine." They continued on, coming to cavern three. They hadn't gotten any updates from the other team so they assumed they lost contact as they did with Bravo 2. "Ensign," said Jim, calling one of the security officers over, "can you boost the signal of the communicators using the tricorder so we can try to get past all this interference?" "I believe so sir," replied the officer. A few moments passed and he returned to Jim with the upgraded communicator. "Let's see what we can get." Jim opened the channel and changed a few settings on the tricorder. A voice started to come trough the static. It sounded like one of the voices of Bravo 2. "I repeat, we have engaged hostile forces near cavern seven. The smoke is making it difficult to see our attackers but-oh my god. All Starfleet personnel have to leave immediately, I repeat, all Starfleet personnel must leave now. We have engaged the Borg. Again, we have enga-". Static cut the rest of the message off, but Jim didn't need it. _They were here the whole time and we had no idea_, he thought to himself. "Run," he said in a hushed tone of voice, "go, now, NOW!" The security team all turned in the direction they came in from, almost reaching their rappel-down point so they could get back to the surface. However, a squad of Borg drones awaited them at the rappel site, blocking their escape, and only chance of survival.


	6. Chapter 6

CHAPTER 6

The drones spotted the team and started moving towards them. Instinctively, the team all started to fire on the drones. Jim stepped in front of Camilla and acted as a shield between her and the Borg. The beams of the phasers hit their targets and they fell with ease, quickly eliminating the entire squad. Jim stepped forward and counted. Six drones. "Everyone, set your phasers on a rotating frequency, I have a feeling they'll begin to adapt quickly." The security team changed the settings on their weapons and prepared for another attack. Jim tapped his communicator, "Bullock to Commander Data," he said, awaiting the response. "Bullock to Lieutenant Worf," he said, again waiting for a reply that didn't come. He turned to the security team, "Get back up to the surface, inform Commander Riker of the situation. I'm going to find the other team." Jim started to walk off, followed by Camilla. "No," he said turning to face her, "its too dangerous for non-Starfleet personnel." "I'm coming with you." "No," he said more forcefully this time, "the Borg are not a force to be underestimated." "I'm not afraid of them and I'm not afraid to die either." "They'll do far worse then kill you. They take you, turn you into one of them and turn you against everything you swore to protect." He nodded at two security officers who grabbed her and hooked her up to the rappel harness, much to her very voiced disagreement. The harness pulled her up and to the surface. Jim turned away and started down the tunnel towards Bravo Team's last location. He cautiously moved forward, keeping his phaser drawn and ready to fire at all times. Jim came to a fork in the path with three paths to choose from. Jim heard mechanical noises from the left-most tunnel. He again proceeded carefully, waiting to spot one of his crew. As he continued, he saw no signs of them but he started to see signs of Borg technology on the walls and ceiling around him. Down the tunnel from his current location he spotted two drones walking down an intersecting tunnel, each one with a hand on a different person. Jim got closer and noticed the yellow and red colors of a Starfleet uniform. He was thankful it wasn't either one of his bridge officers but he still felt sorry for the crewmembers. Jim managed to avoid detection long enough to make it to the primary recharge area for the drones. He looked at the rows of stations lining the walls. There were hundreds of stations, and from what he could tell, they were all empty, which meant there were hundreds of Borg beneath New York City. Down about five levels, he saw a group of officers being escorted by three Borg drones. Jim looked around for a fast and easy way to his friends. He took sight of a long cable running across the gap, a gap that extended for hundreds of meters down. He grabbed the cable, pulled it out of the wall and swung down behind the escort group. He fired to bursts, killing two of the drones. The third one moved forward but Worf grabbed it and flipped the drone over the railing, down into the chasm below. "Good to see you're all ok. C'mon, lets get out of here." Jim handed the three extra phasers he had to Worf, Data, and one of the officers. "Sir, would it not have been wiser if you had accepted the possibility we had been assimilated and left us behind?" asked Data. "Data, if you learn nothing else about humans, at last try to remember this, we are usually optimistic. Especially me. And sometimes that optimism compels us to do things that seem trivial or act in situations that seem like there's no hope in a positive outcome. I don't believe in a situation that has no hope for a positive outcome. Something good comes out of everything." Jim reached out and grabbed the cable again, this time getting on and pulling himself up a bit before swinging back over to where he came from. Worf, Data and the rest of the team did the same with ease and they started on their way out. As they were about to leave the tunnel that brought Jim to the recharge area, a force field activated in front of them, cutting off their escape route. Data approached it and put his hand out, touching the field slightly. It flashed and zapped at his touch. "It appears to be a type 9 force field. There is no way for it to deactivate unless the power source is destroyed or the operator shuts it down." "Looks like we'll have to find another way around. Come on, this way." Jim and the crew started down the corridor again towards the recharge stations. The sound of heavy, mechanical footsteps stopped them in their tracks. Several Borg drones came marching down the tunnel towards the group. Jim, Data, and Worf all fired at the attackers. They were able to destroy about seven before the Borg became resistant to the phasers. "Damn, they've adapted," said Jim, using his phaser rifle now as a melee weapon. Two drones came from behind the team and grabbed two of the security officers and, using little tubules found in their fingers, implanted Borg nanoprobes into the bloodstream of the crewmembers, slowly changing them from humans to Borg. Jim turned around and saw the officers on the ground, changing from flesh colored people into pale, biomechanical monsters. Since they didn't have the implants that allowed them to adapt, Jim raised phaser at the two officers, set it to maximum, and fired at them, instantly vaporizing them. After fighting what seemed like the entire Borg presence, the drones stopped coming. Jim looked round and saw they lost seven officers. It was down to Jim, Data, Worf, and three other officers. They pushed father into the Borg complex, looking for anyway to escape. "Sir," called Data, "I believe I found something." Jim turned and faced Data. "It seems that if we were to walk another thirty meters forward, turned right and walked another fifteen meters in that direction, we will come across a transporter room. Once there, I think we can beam to the surface since it is not as far as the Enterprise is from this location." "Good job Data. You heard him, lets move out," ordered Jim. The remaining crew picked up speed and made the right turn. They came to a large bulkhead door, about four meters high and seven wide. The door slid open as they approached it. Inside were about fifteen drones, all turning to face them at once. "Oh, shit" Data whispered in surprise it seemed. Jim and Worf looked over at him. "I believe my emotion chip is working sir," said Data, looking nervously at all the Borg staring at them. Jim made the first move and dove behind some crates, pulling out his phaser. The Borg approached slowly while Jim changed the settings on his phaser. A high-pitched whining sound started emanating from the phaser and he tossed over to where the biggest concentration of Borg were located. The drones stopped and looked at the weapon; one of them even stopped down to pick it up. The whining got higher before finally the phaser beeped and exploded, vaporizing the few closest to it and throwing back all the others. The group came out from their cover and quickly made it over to the transporter pad. Data stood at the console, keying in the command to beam to the surface and then to overload the terminal, his hands moving faster then the eye could see. He finished giving commands and they all stepped up onto the pad, waiting to be beamed away from the hell they were experiencing. Within seconds they dematerialized and were reformed on the surface, at the location of the temporary camp set-up by Worf and the security teams that beamed down a few hours earlier. Now all that remained were overturned supply crates, phaser burns on the ground around them and on the few trees that were left. But more importantly, what they saw scattered on the ground around them were the dead bodies of Starfleet officers, Borg drones, and much to the surprise and dismay of Jim, Romulan soldiers.


	7. Chapter 7

CHAPTER 7

Jim and the rest of the team looked at the scene around them. The security officers were examining their dead comrades to see who was lost in this battle, but Jim was looking for one person specifically; he was looking for Camilla. Her body was nowhere to be found. _Maybe the Enterprise beamed her up in time. Maybe she was able to run off and avoid the battle altogether, _Jim thought to himself. "Captain," yelled Worf from across the field, "over here." Jim ran over and saw the dying officer lying before him, just barely holding on to his last few moments of life. "What happened here ensign?" asked Jim, crouching by the officer's side and speaking very softly. The officer slowly turned his bloody face to look at Jim. "They-they came out of no-where…Borg and…" he winced in pain trying to gesture to the areas where they came from, "and Romulans. Working…together…agai-" the ensign tried to take a breath but it almost seemed to get caught if his throat as he looked at the sky and went limp, closing his eyes slowly. Jim stood up slowly. "Borg and Romulans together," he said in disbelief, looking out at the bloodied battleground around him, "that hasn't happened since after the Enterprise-D was destroyed." He turned to Worf. "I remember it well," said the Klingon, remembering his time served under Captain Picard. "The incident occurred some time ago, the Romulans retrieved Captain James T. Kirk's dead body from its resting place on Viridian III. Using Borg nanotechnology, they reanimated his body in the hopes that the newfound Borg/Romulan alliance would overthrow the Federation. They failed. We can only presume they are trying a similar approach once more, but I do not know who they could try to use, especially from this timeline." "It's not the overthrow of the Federation from our timeline they're trying to accomplish. They're trying to stop it from ever happening in the first place. The Borg are all but destroyed back in our timeline, they could never amass a force large enough to take Earth and defeat all our ships. The only thing I can think of is the Borg possibly borrowed technology from the Romulans to sneak past Federation sensor outposts and patrols, but why borrow when they could just assimilate them and take the technology. I think it's time we returned to the ship and did a little research," Jim tapped his communicator, "Bullock to Enterprise, three to beam up. Energize." Worf, Data and Jim dematerialized and reformed on the transporter pad on the Enterprise. "Worf, Data meet me in the conference room in two hours with as much information as you can provide from our unexpected time jump after our return to 24th century Earth. And be sure to inform Commander Riker as well." Jim walked out of the transporter room and towards the turbolift. He had research of his own to conduct.

Camilla awoke in a strange place. There were bright lights all around her and the sounds of mechanical whirrings and computers processing surrounded her. She sat up quickly and noticed she was on a bed, a medical one if she knew any better. She jumped down and started toward the door when an invisible barrier in front of her stopped her. She reached out and touched it. The barrier zapped and shocked her hand with a mild electric charge. She quickly withdrew her hand in pain. "I wouldn't do that too much if I were you," came a voice from across the room, near the shadows. A figure with a full silver outfit emerged. He was average height for a male, Camilla thought, and ha short black hair. The figure stepped forward, "The force field is designed to increase intensity every time it is disturbed, a torture method employed by my people," said the man, getting close to the force field but far enough away to not touch it. "And just what are you," asked Camilla, confused at how he said 'my people' almost as if he wasn't human. "I am Centurion Ja'tal of the Romulan Star Empire. I am the one who captured you, along with the rest of my team. We found your Federation camp and knew you were trying to foil our plans, so we wiped you out, except, the Borg wanted you alive for some reason. A drone killed two of my men for trying to kill you. That's when it became clear you were more valuable alive. For what reason, I do not know. But from the looks of it, you're not Starfleet. You're just a human female from this primitive, uncivilized time. If the Borg didn't need you all for their own plans I would have suggested a purge of all human from the planet, that way we are guaranteed success in our endeavors." The Romulan turned to Camilla, who still looked confused. "You cannot understand the magnitude of the situation you're in nor will you understand our workings aboard this ship. Our plans are far too complex; besides, if you escape, we don't want you knowing our plans and then going to whoever this 'Jim' person is and spilling everything." Camilla was taken aback at his comment. _Had I said his name while I was unconscious?, _she thought to herself. The door opened behind the Ja'tal and in stepped two Borg drones escorting a Romulan officer. The two Romulans spoke while Camilla paced in her 'cell'. There didn't appear to be any means of escape or any way to deactivate the force field. Just then, she noticed the officers kept looking at her, the color draining from Ja'tal's face. He nodded and went over to the console near him. After keying in commands he looked up and Camilla heard a hiss. Looking around she saw there were two vents that slid open from the walls around her. A gas of some kind was filling the cell and she eventually felt herself losing consciousness again, collapsing onto the floor.

The bridge officers sat in the conference room awaiting the arrival of Captain Bullock. The door slid open and in stepped the captain, taking his chair at the head of the table. "So far, the situation does not look good for us. We've lost about fifteen good officers to the Borg and now we've discovered the Romulans are involved too. Seeing that we have taken a few steps back in time we have an idea of what their intentions are, to stop the human race from becoming the power they are in the 24th century, thereby preventing the creation of the Federation and destroying the lasting peace that existed between the hundreds of races involved in the Federation. However, questions surround this whole situation. Why are the Romulans and Borg working together? What do they have to gain from each other? Is this a representation of the Romulan Empire's view or just one group of radicals who want power? But most importantly, I think, is how did we get here? There's too many things unanswered and we need to get to the bottom of it all. Lets start with you, Mr. Data, what have you put together?" Jim and the crew around the table turned to Data awaiting his report, "Reviewing the sensor scans from one hour before we jumped back to the point of the jump, I see only explanation as to how we came here, there was a residual temporal singularity left by most assuredly the Borg, a tactic used once before when they attempted to prevent first contact following their attack on Sector 001. It appears that using cloaking technology acquired from the Romulans, the Borg slipped by undetected and formed a singularity without it being visible to any scans. Seeing as how the Romulans are now involved, I believe they used the same singularity to travel back in time to 21st century Earth. We were the only ship that was unfortunate to pass through it, although getting pulled into the singularity has helped save humanity to a point." "Thank you Mr. Data. Mr. Worf, any findings to add to Data's report?" "The one thing I did come across was about thirty minutes before we passed through the singularity, the communication system picked up part of a conversation between the USS Boeing and Starfleet HQ. The Boeing was in Romulan space at the time, helping to survey planets in the area for the Romulans to repopulate since Remus had just been destroyed by the supernova. The captain of the Boeing reported a temporal rift but it disappeared after a few seconds, not leaving behind any traces of temporal energy or any disturbances." Jim, Riker, Data, Worf, and LaForge all sat and let the information sink in. Jim rose and walked to the window, looking out at the stars and the planet before him. He suddenly spun around quickly and faced his crew, a look of enlightenment across his face. "Wait a minute," he said, running though he facts in his mind, "the Borg are close to extinction, as are the Romulans. Neither one has a home planet any more; the ships are spaced out and have no leader to unify them. There's the reason for the alliance, they both have the same issues plaguing them. The Borg are gaining resources and technology from the Romulans to build their fleets back up and the Romulans must be getting a similar benefit. Which proceeds to explain how the Borg slipped past Earth's defenses undetected; they cloaked and entered orbit around Earth, as you said Data. However, they didn't open the singularity, they closed it, or tried to. The singularity the Boeing picked up was the opening, thus allowing any cloaked Romulan ships to pass through. Once in 21st century space, they made it to Earth, opened the singularity for a split second and allowed the Borg in, not realizing that we would pass through the event horizon almost at the same time. And the reason we didn't pick anything up was because A) we lost sensor capability due to the singularity and B) since we were jus entering warp speed, our forward motion carried over to this timeline, putting us out of visual range of anything happening around Earth. That's why we found New York in the condition we did, the Borg had time to make a foothold without us knowing it. Now the only step is to find out where their base of operations is and stop them." Not ten seconds after the words left Jim's mouth did the Red Alert lights start flashing and alarm blaring. The officers rose and dashed to the bridge. "Report," Jim ordered, storming towards his chair. "Two Borg spheres and two Romulan D'deridex class warbirds, and one Borg cube approaching, weapons and shields fully charged," replied Worf, taking the tactical position. "Looks like they found us," Jim said under his breath. "Open a hailing frequency to the lead ship." The viewscreen showed the interior of the Borg cube, but Jim wasn't focused on which ship it was, he was more concentrated on _who _was on the screen. "No," was all he could utter, while slowly rising from his chair, eyes glued to the screen the whole time.


	8. Chapter 8

CHAPTER 8

Jim stared at the viewscreen, unable to move, unable to speak. The image before him was the most frightening thing he had ever seen. On the screen stood Camilla, aboard the Borg cube, however she did not appear to be assimilated. "Hello Captain Bullock of the USS Enterprise, designation NCC 1701-E," said Camilla, somehow changed; not assimilated, but not completely human either. "Camilla, what is going on? Stand-by, we're getting you out of there." "No need, captain. This is where I belong. It all makes sense now, the reason I had no family or friends, the reason why I have no memory of my past. Its because I didn't have any of those things. My place is here, amongst my people, with me as their queen." Jim gave the kill sign to Worf. The screen shut off and the audio transmission ended. "Mr. Crusher, get us the hell out here, full impulse. Worf, ready quantum torpedoes. If any of the ships move, fire at will." "Captain, may I remind you we are no match for a single cube. A cube with support craft will surly lead to the destruction of the Enterprise," commented Data. "I'm aware Mr. Data. Bridge to Engineering, is warp drive ready yet?" "Not yet, captain," replied LaForge from the Engineering deck, "I should have it back in ten minutes." "Understood, work as fast as possible." Jim sat in his chair, reassessing the situation. A Borg cube, two spheres and two warbirds. _Talk about outgunned,_ he thought to himself. "Mr. Data, scan the area for any nebulas or asteroid belts. Let's se if maybe we can use the elements to out advantage." Data keyed in the commands on his console. "There is one nebula, unnamed, approximately half a light year away. It is comprised mainly of ionized gases and is showing signs of static discharges." "Run a scenario through the computer, how would passing through the nebula affect the Enterprise or task force." "Processing," said Data, moving quickly to give the best results. "According to data retrieved from the USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, refit, Admiral James T. Kirk employed a similar strategy against Khan Noonien Singh after he hijacked the USS Reliant. Shields and sensors will be inoperative and the viewscreen will be greatly interfered with. There is no risk to the ship itself or the crew." "Mr. Crusher, set a course, best speed. Mr. Worf, keep weapons trained on the ships." The Enterprise started to back away from the small fleet of ships, eventually coming about and heading towards the nebula. The Romulan warbirds followed closely, opening fire on the Enterprise. Worf returned fire with phaser blasts on the closest warbird followed by a volley of photon torpedoes. The warbird closed the gap, moving into position just above the Enterprise. The second warbird moved directly behind the Enterprise, opening fire at the same time as the first. Sparks flew out of consoles and wall panels on the bridge. The officers held on to their consoles to prevent themselves from being tossed around the bridge. "Report," called out Jim over the sound of alarms and the sound of weapons hits on the hull. "Shields are down to 46%. Minor outer hull breaches along the aft sections," replied Worf. "Status of the Romulan vessels?" "The dorsal ship has sustained damage to its hull, shields are inoperative. The aft ship has minor hull breaches and minimal shield damage." "Concentrate fire on the dorsal ship. Once its destroyed attempt to lock a tractor beam on the largest debris segment you can find and put it in the aft ship's path." Worf nodded in acknowledgment. The Enterprise stopped firing it's aft weapons and concentrated fire at the dorsal ship. The phasers eventually cut through parts of the warbirds lower hull and sections of the neck. The Enterprise then sped up enough to have the dorsal warbird in torpedo range. Three photons from the aft launcher traveled up towards the warbird, two hitting the forward sections of the head and the last hitting the neck. The last torpedo ended up being the killing blow. Smaller explosions from inside the ship appeared all over the hull, the major one being right at the neck connector which was blown apart completely, sending the head of the ship floating away. This was the break the Enterprise needed. Within seconds of the warbird's destruction, a tractor beam quickly locked onto the head and pulled it down towards the Enterprise's engines. The second warbird, just starting to clear the debris, had no time to change course after the Enterprise released the fragment of ship. The collision slowed the pursuit significantly but the ship still gave chase. "Mr. Worf, fire a concentrated phaser beam at the neck of the warbird, low power so it doesn't drain the energy too much. Once the shields begin to buckle under the stress, fire a quantum torpedo along the same line as the phaser." A weaker, thinner phaser beam fired out from the aft phaser array. It was apparent that the beam was impacting the shields but it was unknown if it would have the desired effect. Jim watched intently, waiting for the ship to open fire again. Just then, a ripple in the shields around the neck appeared, giving Worf his brief window of attack. Not three seconds after the ripple appeared did Worf fire the torpedo. The entire bridge crew watched in the hope that this plan would work. The phaser was losing energy and starting to fade, slowly closing the shield break. Mere seconds before the phaser went out the torpedo made contact with its target and punctured right through the hull of the warbird's neck/body meeting section. The warbird came to a stop and vented warp plasma from its engines. The Enterprise continued on its course to the nebula, leaving the warbird as its warp core failed and caused the ship to explode, leaving behind little sign that a ship was ever there.

Camilla watched her viewscreen as the warbirds were destroyed. _So the Enterprise fought off two birds huh,_ she thought,_ well, I think its time for the big guns._ Using her link to the Borg Collective she brought two cloaked cubes to attention, giving the crew orders t pursue and destroy the Enterprise. Camilla was slowly becoming more and more Borg-like in appearance. Her skin had become the sickly grey color that all drones had, there ports created for her soon attached mechanical implants, and she was already fused to the jumpsuit that served as her body armor as opposed to the bulky and heavy armor of the drones. The outfit clung to her body, becoming one with her as she was becoming one with the collective. She was scared at first when the Romulan officer had sedated her, and when she woke up later to the image of tubes all over her body running the nanoprobes into her bloodstream. She had been created for this purpose. The Borg had somehow placed her on 21st century earth so she could be recovered and named the new queen if the one at the time had been destroyed. After the Battle of Sector 001 and the events that took place after that, the queen had been destroyed, leaving the Borg without a single controller. They functioned but minimally, enough to find their back up and put her in command. Camilla knew she didn't belong where she was. She had always wondered why she couldn't remember her past very well or why she didn't seem to blend in with society. Now she understood, she was the Borg's back-up plan after they were left crippled. They believed that with her in charge, they could raise their race back to the power they once were, with Earth as the center of the new Unicomplex. She accepted the new her, but the human side was still present in her. Every so often she would think about how Jim looked devastated at losing her to the Borg, and she felt guilty, she felt like she wanted to break out of her Borg shell and go straight to him. Even though she had only known him for a short time, she came to like Jim very much. He protected her, he made sure she was aware of everything that was going on, and he smiled a lot with her around, apparently not something he did very often according to the security personnel who were with her on Earth before the attack. She caught herself longing for the human side and the Borg side quickly came back into the reality of what she was now. She was the leader of the most powerful empire in the galaxy. Great civilizations would fall with just a thought; thousands of troops march into battle with a look in the direction of the aggressors. All that was left was to pull the thorn out of her side, the Federation. One ship is all there is; a single Federation ship, no match for the numbers of ships that were under the queen's command. Soon the Enterprise would be gone, and Jim along with it. Then the Borg could finally rise to the power they once were. Only one thing stood in her way, one person. But unfortunately for her, he was the one person the Borg would fear most if they felt fear. Even more so then Jean-Luc Picard or Species 8472, the only race ever known to be able to defeat the Borg with ease. They were fighting the greatest tactician in all of Starfleet. _All good things must come to an end_, she thought, smiling.


	9. Chapter 9

CHAPTER 9

The Enterprise approached the nebula, coming to a stop just outside the outer part of the cloud. "Mr. Worf, status report," asked Jim.

"Shields are up to 79%, hull integrity is holding at full efficiency. Long-range sensors are inoperative. Warp drive is still down due to the damage sustained on the warp engines. Impulse engines are fully operational. All other systems are operating within normal parameters."

Jim nodded, "Thank you, Worf." _At least most of the ship remained intact,_ he thought. "Commander, you have the bridge, I'll be in my ready room." Jim stood up and walked off the bridge. The door slid open and Jim sat as the desk.

"Computer, pull up all files from 21st century Earth regarding the name 'Camilla Hawke'."

The computer processed the request and replied in its standard female voice, "Name does not match any records." Jim slumped back in his chair. "She was right," he said to himself. The woman he felt like he had to protect from the moment he saw her had become his greatest enemy. And she had been created for that purpose, to become the greatest threat to the Federation. "Computer, pull up all files regarding Captain Picard's assimilation and later resuscitation." The computer again processed the request and the information appeared on the desk monitor. He had a glimmer of hope that she could be brought back; she could become human again and stay that way. He hoped the human part of her was not gone completely.

The Borg cubes and spheres gathered in orbit of Earth, preparing for their assault against the human population. Thousands of drones were coming together to prepare for battle against any resistance from the humans. Camilla looked at her viewscreen and saw the army lined up, ready to march into battle at her command. "This is where it starts," she said to herself, "The end of the future begins here." Through the link of the hive mind of the Borg, she gave the command to begin the assault, starting with the city the Borg first touched down on. The drones marched out of the tunnel system and onto the destroyed streets of New York City. Small groups broke off from the main force and began implanting their technology in the hollowed out buildings around them, creating the beginnings of a new Unicomplex, from which the Borg would start their conquest of Earth. The main force started making their way to the security bunker.

The military forces at the security bunker sounded the raid sirens and locked down the building, moving everyone from the main floor and bringing them down into the fallout shelter underground. Soldiers took defensive positions around the compound and trained their weapons towards the approach of the Borg troops. The compound was located in a slight valley at the base of several high hills, and then surrounded in perimeter defenses. The civilians in the shelter were all very quiet, waiting to hear the sounds of the battle starting overhead. The soldiers all held their positions as if they were frozen, looking at the top of the hills waiting to see the Borg come over the crest. The sounds of heavy footsteps approaching the compound were soon heard after the defenses were prepared. Shortly after hearing the steps, thousands of drones came from over the hill and moved down towards the compound. The soldiers opened fire; the sound of automatic gunfire drowned out the heavy marching. Artillery was fired at the drones as well, causing more damage to the forces numbers. After about twenty minutes of constant fire into the lines of Borg, the soldiers stopped firing, allowing the smoke to clear from the valley. After the smoke cleared, they saw no drones coming over the hill. Several hundred lay dead on the hilltop and in the area around the compound. The soldiers cheered in victory, but realized it was short lived after they heard more marching. Taking their positions back up, they saw more drones coming over the hill. They opened fire again, killing a few dozen Borg but then they saw the weapons were all missing. No, not missing, but not hurting them. The soldiers didn't understand what was happening; a moment ago their guns were wiping them out and now, nothing. Some of the Borg raised their fully mechanical arms and fired Romulan phasers from a new implant. The phasers punched right through the military defenses and killed about half of the soldiers within seconds. The remaining soldiers were all approached by Borg and, using the tubules implanted in their fingers, assimilated the soldiers, adding to the numbers of the Borg invasion force. The civilians below heard the sound of the battle stop. Cheering rang out across the shelter, all coming from the assumption that the military forces were successful. The next thing they saw changed their attitudes very quickly. The huge door, designed to withstand a nuclear attack, was being broken through very easily by the Borg. Within minutes they were through and started their assimilation of the people there, taking over the entire compound. Similar incidents were occurring all around the world; the Borg were taking over, and fast.

The Queen watched as her armies cut across the countries with no resistance, unmatched by the inferior 21st century weapons. There was nothing the military forces could do to stop them. The Queen smiled and laughed at the easy conquest of her 'home' planet. As she was watching the invasion, the cube suddenly shook with the impact of several torpedoes. The screen switched over to the attacking the ship. The Enterprise had come out of hiding.

"Mr. Worf, get together every crew member that isn't needed to run the ship and bring them down to Earth, I need you to take on the Borg troops and prevent them from killing or assimilating anyone else." "Aye, sir," replied the Klingon. He stepped away from his station, the stand-by officer taking his place. "Mr. Crusher, take us in close, Ensign Roake," said Jim, talking to the replacement tactical officer, "prepare a rotating frequency phaser spread followed by a barrage of torpedoes." The Enterprise cruised right over the top of the cube, firing its ventral phaser banks along the cube. After passing over the cube, the Enterprise fired its aft torpedo bays right into the side of the cube. In a quick maneuver, the Enterprise came about and fired its forward phaser banks and torpedo bays. "Mr. Data, status of the cube," asked Jim, hoping that there was enough damage to disrupt its weapons and engines. "Outer hull breaches detected, along with minor disruptions in their weapons array." "Roake, target the weapons array and fire." The Enterprise came around again, firing any phaser bank that was in range of the cube. The cube began to return fire as the Enterprise made its passes. Again the Enterprise came around and fired their forward weapons at the cube. The accuracy and magnitude of the cube's weapon systems were drastically reduced. "Keep up the pressure, Mr. Roake. Bridge to Worf, is your team ready?" "Aye sir, I have approximately 120 officers standing by." "Once the cube is disabled be ready to beam down." The cube fired one final barrage of torpedoes before finally having its weapons disabled by the Enterprise's constant fire. The Enterprise came to a full stop facing the cube.

"Mr. Worf, you have permission to beam down and begin your assault. Good luck. Roake, lower shields and lock on to the beam down coordinates."

The Enterprise's shields lowered and the attack force beamed down to an area in central New York, the theorized place of attack.

The security bunker there had its defenses set up and took aim at Worf and his team. "We're not your enemy," said the Klingon gruffly, "the Borg are our enemy as well, we have come to assist." Worf tapped his communicator, "Worf to Enterprise, beam down the supply crates." Seven crates supplied with many type 2 and 3 phasers. "Your weapons have no effect since the Borg have adapted. Use these." Worf and the officers started handing out the weapons to the soldiers, who were standing in shock because of the situation. "There is no time to explain, just fight, the Borg are approaching." The soldiers grabbed the weapons and took their positions again, alongside the Federation officers. In the distance, the defenders spotted the oncoming Borg attack force. Within moments they were in range and the battle began. The red phaser beams and the green disruptor blasts light up the darkening battleground as night began to fall.

The Queen was furious with the failure of the attempted destruction of the Enterprise. Her collective mind was forcing the drones to work faster at getting the weapons back online and at killing the Federation troops down on the planet. "There's got to be more I can do," she said to herself. "Surrender," came a voice from behind her. She spun around and saw Captain Jim Bullock standing there, a look of confidence on his face and a firm, courage-filled posture. "It's over, you've lost." "No, the Borg must live on, I am their leader and I will not give up." "Camilla, I know you're in there. This is not where you belong. You're human, not Borg. They just want you to think you're Borg so you they had someone to control them. I know the young woman I met down on the planet is there. Fight it, Camilla, fight the Borg." The Queen just smiled,

"Camilla is no longer a part of me. I am the Borg Queen now, this is who I am, no one else. Your attempts to revive the human are hopeless."

"There is no such thing as a hopeless situation." Jim reached put his on his belt and pulled out his phaser. "If the human woman is gone then I have no choice but to fire."

"Go ahead, shoot, you kill me then you kill her too. And you since the ship will go into lockdown and prevent anything from getting off. In which case the self-destruct sequence will start."

A look of pain shot across the Queen's face. She leaned up against the wall and put her hands on her head, fighting the pounding in her head. Jim took a step forward but the Queen shot him a look and stood back at attention. "Don't come any closer. I don't need your help."

"Its her isn't it. Camilla is still there, in your mind and your heart. She's fighting you, and she's winning."

"No," called out the Queen, "I am in control now, I am the Queen. Camilla is dead. And soon you will be too." Two drones came from a bulkhead door behind Jim. One tried to grab him but he pushed it into a wall and kicked the other back. He raised the phaser to shoot the drones but the first one hit him in the chest with the mechanical arm. The phaser slid across the floor of the Queen's room. Jim grabbed the mechanical arm and pulled it off the drone, tossing it aside. He then grabbed the drone's head and snapped its neck, causing the implants on its head and neck to spark and fail, killing the drone. Jim slid to his phaser and fired at the drone, causing it spark and collapse. He stood up and turned back to the Queen. She was on the floor, wincing in pain from the headache. Jim ran over and kneeled by her side. He tapped his communicator, "Bullock to Enterprise, stand-by two to beam up directly to sick-bay." Jim saw the command console and walked over, but he didn't recognize the markings on the console. He looked around for anything he could find that would power down the cube. Stopping mid-turn he looked up and saw an inverted pyramid hanging from the ceiling. There was a yellow-green glow emanating from it and it sounded like it was operating. He pulled out his phaser again and held it up to the pyramid. "Energize," Jim said as he fired. Shortly after the beam hit the pyramid, Jim and the Queen were transported back to the Enterprise.

The medical officers aboard waited for the pair but were taken aback at the sight of the Queen in Jim's arms. "Can you make her human again? Can you get rid of these implants?" Jim looked at the doctor. He had faith in her but this was a complex operation for the young chief medical officer. "I can try. Her collective link has to be severed though, otherwise they'll both die," replied the doctor. Jim grabbed the Queen's hand and looked down at her. _Camilla is in there somewhere, I know it,_ he thought to himself. He tightened his grip on her hand and tried to call out to Camilla. "I know you're there, Camilla. You can fight this. This isn't who you are." Jim leaned down and whispered to her just as the medical team asked him to leave so they could conduct the operation. Jim walked out and heard the hiss of the door shut behind him. He walked off to the nearest turbolift and gave the command for the bridge. He hoped that wasn't the last time he would see Camilla.

The turbolift door slid open and revealed the battered bridge of the Enterprise. Consoles were inoperative, the smoke marks of extinguished fires were scattered around the bridge, officers held their posts despite their injuries. Riker turned to see the lift and rose once he saw the captain. Jim walked to the captain's chain and stood in front of it, looking out the main viewscreen at the Borg cube in front of him. "Report on the cube, Mr. Data?" asked Jim expressionless. "I am detecting power failures and fluctuations throughout the cube. It appears that the self-repairing hull functionality is inoperative at the moment. The drones seem confused as to what to do without their Queen aboard." Suddenly, the doctor's voice came over the communication system, "Captain, according to our scans the hive mind link is deteriorating. However, there doesn't appear to be any memory recall or a sort of reboot of her brain. Its almost like there are no memories to be returned." Jim smiled. "Its ok doctor that is exactly what I expected. I'll be down shortly."

"Sir," Data chimed in, "I do believe the drones on the planet are shutting down. I am picking up less and less signatures as the seconds pass. I do believe the severing of the link from the Queen has caused a cascade failure in the operations of the Borg." "Its over then," replied Jim. "I agree. The Borg have been defeated, this time for good," said Riker. Jim looked back at the cube and saw small explosions erupting around the hull of the ship. He sighed and turned to Riker. "You have the bridge, number one. And check in on Worf."

Jim walked off the bridge to the turbolift before Riker could reply. _Its over,_ he thought, _its finally over. The Borg have been defeated, the Romulans are crippled, and Earth has been saved, both this Earth and the future Earth. _The lift doors opened up and Jim walked to sickbay. The first thing he saw upon entering was Camilla sitting up, most of the Borg implants gone. The color was returning to her skin and her voice had returned to the soft, soothing sound it originally was. Jim smiled and walked over leaning against the bio-bed across from hers. She looked up. "What-what happened?" "The Borg assimilated you. They took you, implanted tiny nanoprobes into your bloodstream and turned you into one of them. But that's not the case anymore. You're you again." "How come I can't remember anything? Being assimilated, following orders blindly like that." "Well, that's the thing. You weren't a drone. The Borg work in a very specific way. They all have one mind in which they receive orders and then carry out those orders. You were the Queen of that hive mind. You were the Collective." Camilla looked at the floor, a glazed expression on her face. "How many people did I hurt?" she asked, sorrow and grief filling her voice. Jim stepped forward and placed his hand on hers, "That doesn't matter now. What matters is its all over now. After severing you from the link, all the Borg shut down and their ships are self-destructing one by one. Now get some rest, you need to regain your strength after having beaten back the most powerful adversary of all time." Jim smiled and started to walk away when Camilla stopped him. "I may not remember anything about being assimilated or anything at all, actually. But there is one thing I remember." She looked up at him, smiling. "I love you, too."


	10. Chapter 10

CHAPTER 10

The Enterprise continued its orbit around Earth. Many of the crew had beamed down to assist in the cleanup jobs after the Borg were defeated. All around the world drones and other bits of Borg technology were being burned into nothing, a final farewell to the terror that plagued them these past few weeks. Jim had stayed on board along with Camilla and some of the secondary bridge officers. The rebuilding process was projected to take about 3 years, so long as the remaining population of the world worked together to complete it. The biggest dilemma facing the crew of the Enterprise was what effect these events would have on the timeline. They also had the problem of how to get back to their own timeline. Data, Wesley Crusher and LaForge had been working for many hours to correct the problem. Jim had called a meeting of the senior officers to discuss the rebuilding and the way to get back home.

"Commander Riker, Mr. Worf, status report on the reconstruction efforts?" asked Jim. "So far everything is going well. The remaining population is coming together to permanently eliminate any trace of the Borg. The tunnels are being filled in, the structures are being remodeled, and the best part is there are sessions being held to establish a unified worldwide government. The first ever," replied Riker.

"In addition, the military forces have decided to adopt a single, unified force similar to Starfleet. Also, scientists are coming together to develop warp technology," Worf chimed in.

"Excellent, so its just about time to withdraw our crew and start trying to head back home. Speaking of home, Mr. LaForge, Mr. Data, Mr. Crusher, any luck?" Data rose and walked over to the display screen on the wall behind the captain.

"After hours of calculations and simulations, we have two options. The first is a similar maneuver used by the crew of the original USS Enterprise while in command of a Klingon Bird of Prey. If we achieved a fast enough speed, we could use the suns gravitational pull to slingshot the Enterprise forward in time. The only issue with that is we have no way of knowing exactly when we will come out of the temporal jump. The other suggestion is investigating one of the powered-down Borg ships for their temporal wormhole generator. One of the ships must have had a generator to keep the rifts stable as the fleets passed through. If we can retrieve that generator, then we may be able to get back to the 24th century."

Jim sat and considered both options. "What are the chances of the cube self-destructing?"

"With the power failures happening as fast as they are, we think it'll be about an hour before complete it goes," replied LaForge.

"Understood. Mr. Worf, Mr. Data, Mr. LaForge, you're with me. Commander, you have the bridge." Jim rose along with the senior officers and left the conference room. The team went straight for the turbolift. Camilla watched as Jim entered the turbolift and smiled. "Be back before you know it." The doors slid shut and the life descended.

The away team re-materialized in what was left of the engineering section of the cube. At least, what could be considered the engineering section. Drones were strewn about the deck, lying on the floor, hunched over consoles, limp and slumped in their recharge stations. Data and LaForge closely examined their tricorder readings, keeping an eye out for temporal readings.

"Worf, Geordi, you take that corridor, Data and I will go this way," suggested Jim. The team split up and continued the search. So far there was nothing out of the ordinary.

"Riker to Captain Bullock," came the commander's voice over the communicator.

"Bullock here, go ahead Will."

"Sir, we're picking up a vessel coming into the sector. It's still too far away for visual but we have something."

"Any idea what it might be?"

"No, sir. It's coming up as an unknown but there is something out there."

Jim and Data looked at each other. "Understood, we're coming back now. Bullock, out." Jim tapped the communicator again, "Bullock to Worf," called the captain.

"Worf here, sir," he replied.

"Enterprise sensors are picking up an unknown closing in on this sector. It could be another Romulan vessel. I suggest heading back, we'll try something else to get back home, I don't think the generator is here."

"Understood, sir. We're ready for transport."

Jim tapped the communicator to cut off the link to Worf and tapped it again to contact the Enterprise. "Away team to Transporter Room 3, four to beam up. Energize." The team dematerialized and reformed on the transporter pad, leaving the transporter room right after and going straight for the bridge.

The hour that LaForge stated earlier finally came around and the cube started to collapse in on itself, slowly starting its self-destruct sequence. The Enterprise had moved away to prevent any damage. The unknown that Riker reported earlier still had not arrived, which seemed odd to both himself and Jim.

"And you're sure it was heading here?" asked Jim, looking out the main viewer.

"Yes, captain. Its course and heading were for this sector."

"Data, do you have it on sensors?"

"No, sir, although I am picking up an antimatter trail, which means-correction, I have it on sensors now. It just reappeared on the same course and heading as before. Except its much closer to our location now then before. It is possible the ship is utilizing a cloaking device."

"Which means it very well could be a Romulan vessel."

"It is poss-the unknown has once again disappeared. No sensor readings or antimatter trail this time."

"Worf, go to yellow alert. Something isn't right."

"According to the last recorded speed, the vessel should have entered the sector by now, sir."

Jim stood from the captain's chair, staring out the viewscreen. The last time he encountered a situation like this, it was a Romulan attack cruiser, which is what he was worried about this time.

_That was twelve years ago, the Romulans are supposed to be allies unless this is part of the squad that was with the Borg,_ Jim thought.

Suddenly, the red alert alarm started blaring. Jim quickly turned to Worf.

"We are being scanned sir, but I cannot determine from where," reported the Klingon after shutting off the alarm.

"Stand down red alert. We don't want to give a hostile impression."

Jim again stared out the viewscreen. "Mr. Worf, open a channel."

The frequency opened, "This is Captain Bullock of the USS Enterprise. We mean you no harm, please reveal yourselves."

The screen was still just an expanse of stars and a view of Earth.

"This is Captain James Bullock of the Federation Starship Enter-"

"Sir," Data interrupted, "ship de-cloaking off the port bow."

Jim looked up at the screen and saw the ripple of a deactivating cloaking device. The image facing the Enterprise was not what Jim expected.

"Mr. Data, is that-"

"Sovereign-class starship, designation: NCC 1701-E."

"Sir," said Worf, "we are being hailed, audio only."

"On speakers, Mr. Worf."

The frequency opened again, "Attention Federation ship Enterprise, lower your shields and prepare to be boarded, the Terran Empire controls this sector now."

Jim stood in shock, staring out the viewscreen. Commander Riker rose and stood next to him, staring out the screen as well.

"Mr. Worf, prepare to fire."


End file.
